Rebels without a clue?

David Heath
Monday, 22 November 2010 16:47

Opinion and Analysis

The recent furore around the Internet regarding "The Cook," "The Thief," and well, you know the rest... has been interesting to observe.  On the Internet it's possible to generate severe over-reactions to things.  This is a perfect example.

For the cave-dwellers amongst the audience, here's a synopsis of the recent events.

Some years ago, Monica Gaudio wrote a simple-enough article comparing apple pie recipes in the 14th and 16th centuries and a friend discovered it in a supermarket-distributed free food magazine called "Cooks Source," so they called her to ask how she managed to get published as they wanted to get their writing published too.

Having confirmed the unexpected (unauthorised!) use of her work, Gaudio contacted the publisher and after a brief exchange asked for an apology and a small contribution to a well-known journalism school by way of payment for her work.

In response, the publisher Judith Griggs, gave Monica Gaudio the following all-time gem:

"Yes Monica, I have been doing this for 3 decades, having been an editor at The Voice, Housitonic Home and Connecticut Woman Magazine. I do know about copyright laws. It was 'my bad' indeed, and, as the magazine is put together in long sessions, tired eyes and minds somethings forget to do these things."

Read on for the rest of her response.